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4.06 AVERAGE
4.06 AVERAGE
[author: Kate Braestrup] did not expect her life to change in an instant and yet it did. Suddenly she was no longer a wife - she was a widow and single mother of four young children. She found the strength within herself to overcome her losses and dedicate her life to helping others who had suffered the same thing.
A couple of years ago, I was part of a search and rescue mission looking for a teenager who had disappeared. Kate was there, serving as Warden Service Chaplain. She was with everyone throughout the day as team after team came back with nothing. When the search was finally called off, it was not the happy ending that we all wanted. Although I did not talk to Kate much, her presence I think helped a lot of us to get through the tough parts of the day.
I finished this book in 3 hours. It's well-written and easy to read. Parts made me tear up, then two paragraphs later I would be laughing.
Everyone should pick up this book. We all have lost someone or known someone who has lost someone or seen stories on the news of missing people. It's personal. This book makes it just a little easier to understand.
A couple of years ago, I was part of a search and rescue mission looking for a teenager who had disappeared. Kate was there, serving as Warden Service Chaplain. She was with everyone throughout the day as team after team came back with nothing. When the search was finally called off, it was not the happy ending that we all wanted. Although I did not talk to Kate much, her presence I think helped a lot of us to get through the tough parts of the day.
I finished this book in 3 hours. It's well-written and easy to read. Parts made me tear up, then two paragraphs later I would be laughing.
Everyone should pick up this book. We all have lost someone or known someone who has lost someone or seen stories on the news of missing people. It's personal. This book makes it just a little easier to understand.
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
I am not a religious person at all,
but regardless of that I loved this book more than I can ever put into words. Throughout the years it has continued to remain on my favorite books I’ve ever read list. Highly recommend.
but regardless of that I loved this book more than I can ever put into words. Throughout the years it has continued to remain on my favorite books I’ve ever read list. Highly recommend.
I read this a long time ago, but really, really liked it. She is a very good writer and interesting (to me) thinker. Didn't like her third book as much as the first two.
Interesting memoir - she had a strong perspective on death and dealing with grief
Nurturing - A true story of a woman and mother who becomes a minister after her trooper husband is killed in a traffic accident.
If you are a Unitarian Univeralist, if you are liberal religious, if you love nature, if you enjoy memoirs, if you just like really good writing, this is a book for you.
She writes so beautifully and powerfully about death and life, the loss of her husband, the work she does with the Maine warden service. She makes me want to take my dog and go hiking in the Maine woods, although I'm pretty much an armchair traveler.
The one point I disagree with her is the afterlife. She says that she doesn't think our souls go anywhere, because to be perpetually happy would not be our true selves. I hope and believe that my soul will live on after my body dies. But her exploration of the subject caused me to explore my own beliefs.
She writes so beautifully and powerfully about death and life, the loss of her husband, the work she does with the Maine warden service. She makes me want to take my dog and go hiking in the Maine woods, although I'm pretty much an armchair traveler.
The one point I disagree with her is the afterlife. She says that she doesn't think our souls go anywhere, because to be perpetually happy would not be our true selves. I hope and believe that my soul will live on after my body dies. But her exploration of the subject caused me to explore my own beliefs.
This is a beautiful and wise book. It was mostly comforting, especially at night. It was a little uncomfortable in parts, as I'm an atheist, but definitely worth it. I really appreciate how Kate emphasizes human love and presence as responses to pain and answers to the problem of evil. This is a welcome lesson, a change from the usual guilt trips self-righteously shoved on top of already vulnerable, grieving people for not accepting a faith position projected onto them by others. It's obvious how much Kate loves her children and collegues, and that she thinks about the ethics involved in her job.